In a video televised by Tigray TV, which is currently under the control of the federal government appointed interim administration in Tigray, Ataklit responds to questions from community members participating in a meeting. According to Ataklit, the question of the presence of Eritrean forces in Tigray was “a daily question of the interim administration,” and that “relevant military leaders have been asked to give explanations.”
Forces from neighboring Eritrea have joined the war in northern Ethiopia, and have rampaged through refugee camps committing human rights violations, officials and witnesses say.
The deployment of Eritreans to Tigray is the newest element in a melee that has greatly tarnished Mr. Abiy’s once-glowing reputation. Only last year he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for making peace with Mr. Isaias. Now it looks like the much-lauded peace deal between the former enemies in fact laid the groundwork for them to make war against Tigray, their mutual adversary.
“Abiy has invited a foreign country to fight against his own people,” said Awol Allo, a former Abiy supporter turned outspoken critic who lectures in law at Keele University in Britain. “The implications are huge.”
Read the full story…Forces from neighboring Eritrea have joined the war in northern Ethiopia, and have rampaged through refugee camps committing human rights violations, officials and witnesses say.
Forces from neighboring Eritrea have joined the war in northern Ethiopia, and have rampaged through refugee camps committing human rights violations, officials and witnesses say.
The 54-year-old carpenter came bearing news of some 250 young men abducted to an unknown fate from a single village, Adi Aser, into neighboring Eritrea by Eritrean forces, whose involvement Ethiopia denies. Then in late November, Guesh said he saw dogs feeding on the bodies of civilians near his hometown of Rawyan, where he said Ethiopian soldiers beat him and took him to the border town of Humera.
In fact, according to interviews with two dozen aid workers, refugees, United Nations officials and diplomats — including a senior American official — Eritrean soldiers are fighting in Tigray, apparently in coordination with Mr. Abiy’s forces, and face credible accusations of atrocities against civilians. Among their targets were refugees who had fled Eritrea and its harsh leader, President Isaias Afwerki.
Read the full story…
Despite denials by Ethiopia, multiple reports confirm killings, looting and forcible return of refugees by Asmara’s forces
“This is a grave development,” said a US State Department Spokesman, describing what it said were “credible reports” of Eritrean troops fighting alongside the Ethiopian army in the northern Tigray state against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
“We urge that any such troops be withdrawn immediately,” the spokesperson continued.
The TPLF accused the Ethiopian government of allowing the Eritreans to enter the conflict on ”several fronts”. Debtresion Gebremichael, ousted head of the Tigray state and TPLF chief also said his forces had captured Eritrean soldiers near Wikro, a town roughly 50km north of the Tigray capital Mekelle, though no evidence was shown.
Ethiopia: food rations for displaced people in Tigray have run out. We reiterate our urgent call for unconditional & safe humanitarian access to the affected regions. People in need are still not able to access any assistance. https://t.co/h8nSo9SHW4 pic.twitter.com/ZqPNAlwux9
— UN Humanitarian (@UNOCHA) December 11, 2020
Many Eritreans, including those that oppose President Isaias Afwerki’s rule, are in a dilemma regarding the conflict in Tigray. Most Eritreans agree that he is the mastermind of it and stand against any involvement by their country. There are also a die-hard few that believe he is doing this in the interests of Eritrea.
At the start of the conflict, most Eritreans appeared opposed to any involvement in the conflict between TPLF and the Ethiopian federal government. Many of them had openly expressed their stand against the war and petitioned world leaders to intervene.
“Humera, only a few kilometres from the border to western Eritrea was heavily shelled by artillery in Eritrea forcing residents to fleeing into Sudan and facilitating control of western Tigray by Amhara militia, the regional force, and the federal army.”
Tigray leader Debretsion Gebremichael had vowed that Tigrayans would fight ‘the enemy’ anywhere and by all means, suggesting a tactical shift towards an insurgency-type engagement.
